OVERVIEW
There are many locations in a plant where you might need to replace your lift safety bellows. Some lifts will have their skirts worn out from heavy use, while some others will have rips and tears due to forklifts forks.
Regardless of if the skirt is damaged, or if the skirt was never installed from day one, all lifters should be equipped with a safety bellows skirting.
Why Should You Furnish Lift Safety Bellows
Regardless of your current situation, it is important to have each and every piece of moving equipment covered to protect your workers. There are many instances every year around the United States where workers are injured or killed from a piece of equipment that was not properly covered. Hands, feet, limbs and other body parts can be pinched or even worse yet, completely severed from moving scissor arms that never should have been exposed.
In addition to protecting your workers, you will also want to protect your equipment from debris and other harsh fluids which can enter the equipment. Once inside the lifter, bolts, dust, liquids and a host of other types of harmful particles can wreak havoc on critical components. This can result in expensive downtime and even complete equipment failure which can result in the entire lift system having to be replaced.
A small investment like lift table bellows can save lives and equipment for what most would consider a minimal investment. While most safety departments require the lifters to be purchased with safety skirting, they often forget that the safety bellows must also be replaced when it becomes torn. These tears can expose the scissors and thus pose a safety risk which is equivalent to that of a lift table with no skirt.
What Types of Lift Safety Bellows Are Available
There are many types of lift skirts available to protect your associates and equipment. Some, of course are better than others as they range in material thickness, stitching quality, and mounting quality. Akon believes strongly that the thicker the material, and the stronger the thread, then the longer the skirt will last and thus protect the operators. Also, a higher quality safety bellows skirt will not have to be replaced as often as a lesser quality skirt.
There are also several different materials available to choose from depending on the type of application and environment you will be using the bellows in. The most common and economical is vinyl. Vinyl also bends and flexes very well which prevents wear tears from forming from heavy usage. It is also very easy to install as it can easily bend and flex around obstructions that may be on or near the lifter.
The top of this safety bellows skirting also features a simple bolt on or Velcro on attachment which will hold the bellows in place while the lift lowers and raises. While the Velcro is the most economical, it can become detached from the lift if the skirt is too large, or if the environment is not conducive to adhesives. The longest lasting method would be the flat bar bolt on feature. This method ensures that the skirt will not fall off no matter what usage or environment.
As a word of caution, the flat bar mount does not allow the skirt to pull off of the lift if it becomes caught on an obstruction (such as a fork from a forklift.) This in turn will tear the skirt and require it to be replaced. The Velcro attachment will allow the skirt to pull away from the lift if it comes into contact with an obstruction.
How to Receive A Formal Quote
To receive a formal quote from Akon, simply fill in our online form which will ask you for some basic dimensional information and feature selections. This form can be filled out on our website, or you could choose to print the form and fill it in with a pen or pencil and email it back to use. Once we receive your request for quotation, we will reply back with a formal quote for the lift safety bellows which you can place your order from.